October 31, 2006

• Adventures in Binghamton

  So busy! With what? I guess you can call it life
  ministry. But in between all of that goodness, I’ve finally
  managed to slap together a “fun” post. At least, I hope this is
  fun for you. It was most certainly fun when I was there.

  So someone asked me what adventures are to be had in
  Binghamton. What adventures? “Plenty,” I exclaim.
  Here is an entry that is long overdue – my hiking/camping trip with ChrisRusso.

  To begin with, here are some random facts by the numbers:

  5.5 – miles of hiking trail we traversed in the state park.
  1 – glowing tree that we eagerly tried to take a picture of.
  4 – dead batteries in my camera when we tried to take pictures.
  3 – times we kissed the batteries in the hopes we could coax them back to life.
  15 – pictures taken after kissing the batteries and thanking Jesus.
  7 – proposed pirate/knight/ninja fight scenes for a photo shoot in a state park.
  2000
  - dollars for the fine we anticipate paying for bringing katanas and
  long swords into a state park for props to a photo shoot.
  4 – fish caught for dinner
  1 – fish escaped due to a total team, brain failure
  2
  - the number that is supposed to be better than one, but yet, somehow
  still isn’t quite as good as having a woman around to correct two men
  who are about to accidentally release the lone dinner fish back into
  the lake.
  2 – Tents used (there was no sharing of tents or personal space on this trip)
  38 – the temperature in farenheit when we woke up the next day.

  We started off the trip by going hiking at the State Park.
  It was spectacular, as can be imagined during the peak of fall.
  We did come across a magnificent tree, which Chris dubbed the “Glowing Tree,” and thus, we had to take a picture of it. And yes, we did kiss
  the batteries in the hope that the spark of love would be enough to
  reignite the power of those lonely little cells and bring my camera
  back to life.

  Needless to say, it worked.

  We each took turns trying to capture its beauty.

  
  Glowing Tree from afar, by ChrisRusso

  
  Glowing Tree from afar, by AlbanMolaban

  Then we got up close and personal.

  
  Glowing tree from below, by ChrisRusso

  

  Glowing tree from below, by AlbantheSideKick

  I realise now that I look back on these shots, that this last one is
  lacking a little bit sometihng. It seems more like a background
  picture to something more important than a real shot with “umph,” you
  know what I mean? I can almost imagine this picture being the
  cover of a new book about trees in the fall or something corny like the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

  Imagine this:

  

  Autumn with Alban

  A collection of 25 heartwarming short stories featuring really dumb
  things you did one day because a guy named Alban said to you, “Hey, why
  not?” Laugh out loud until you cry, and then really, really cry,
  as you relive these moments of yesteryear. Available soon through
  Amazon.com

  I guess it really isn’t that hard to imagine. Wow.

  So while we’re walking through the trail, we come across numerous sites
  of natural beauty. And being that we’re guys, what do we do about
  it? We dream up fight scenes.

  Alban: Man, I would love to take a picture of this. This is gorgeous! Too bad the batteries are completely dead.
  Chris: Yeah. Do you know
  what would be awesome? If we came back here dressed up as
  medieval warriors and did a photoshoot.
  Alban: Yo! No way! That would so rock!
  Chris: I mean, just look
  at that line of trees. It’s perfect. It’s practically
  crying out to be the setting of a sword duel.
  Alban: Yeah! My sister is visiting home this weekend. I can ask her to bring back my katana so I can dress up as a ninja.
  Chris: Sweet!

  And after a few minutes of discussing this, strands of reality started to slip in.

  Chris: Hey, how are we going to get weapons into a state park?

  Of course, we would work and devise numerous plans upon plans for ways we could bring in our swords.

  Alban: I could bring the
  swords in my baseball equipment bag, and tell the park ranger that I’m
  carrying equipment for a nature shoot. You know, tripods and
  extra batteries.
  Chris: What if he wants to look inside the bag?
  Alban: We can bury him in the lake.

  As further strands of reality entwined to form a quilt and wrap around
  us like blankets on a cold day, we started to come to our senses.

  
  Chris: How about, we ask for permission to bring in the swords, and just tell them that it’s for a photoshoot?
  Alban: I guess we could do that.

  But knowing us, you should realise that sense and sensibility does not last for long.

  Chris: Have you noticed,
  that in all the time we’ve been walking around, we haven’t seen one
  ranger. Not one. Even when we looked for one at the office,
  we couldn’t find one.
  Alban: Yes… It’s as if anybody could walk right in with anything and not get noticed.
  Chris: We have a new plan.

  As it turns out, my sister did visit that coming weekend, but sans
  katana. The photoshoot is now postponed until I can acquire it
  during Thanksgiving.

  to be continued in part 2 of the camping trip…

  • 5:59 pm
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